Rescue Chickens (and maybe a rescue turkey?) with severe health issues....help!

[cassvillechick]

HI everyone,

Yesterday we went to pick up 4 new layers to add to our flock from a farm who I was told had a good reputation. What I found shocked and saddened me. There were too many hens in one place with no food and very little water. Most were pecked bald, some had broken legs, they were all sneezing and some had liquid running from their mouths.

We couldn't just leave them there so we took some of the ones that were hurt the worst and now have them in our barn. We are not letting these sick hens anywhere near our healthy flock. I just didn't have the heart to walk away from them. We are very new to this, hatching our first flock in April so we need help. (pictures attached)

Here are the issues:
4 hens with colds and parasites.
1 really small hen that once I got it home and looked at it I think it's a turkey pullet!!! It still makes baby noises. (little brown one in pics)
1 hen bald spots with a broken leg.Eats and drinks and can hop around. (gray and white)
1 hen with an eye swollen to half the size of her head and wet noises from her throat.

Any suggestions? We put antibiotics in all the water and dusted them with parasite stuff from the farm store. What more should I be doing?

Thank you so much.

 

[bird boy]

Good luck. I feel bad for you and worse for the birds. These sick birds may never get well and unfortunatly any air borne disease they have may be transmitted to your birds. I would take them back or dispose of them before you loose you healthy flock.

 

[janinepeters]

I don't have any suggestions, but it is so nice of you to take pity on these birds. Maybe more important than what will happen to these 4, the owner you got them from continue to raise animals like this.

Sadly, I have seen this sort of thing in a few educational, non-profit farms where people can visit. A couple weeks ago I visited such a place in VT. The chickens had a decent amount of space, but many were horribly infested with scaly leg mites, and some had nasty looking bumblefoot. But I guess as long as people come to gawk at the birds, those who run the farm are happy. At another such farm in MA, the chickens were crowded in small pens with too many roosters. Most hens had totally bare backs, and also much evidence of feather picking on their necks.

 

[cassvillechick]

We have them separated from the flock. They are in a different barn. I guess what I am looking for is help on when to know when to give up. We have had them for two days and they all are moving around more and eating better. Someone suggested that we threat them for 3 weeks and see if they respiratory clears up but we don't know much about chickens. Thank you for your reply.

 

[cassvillechick]

Thank you for your reply. We are taking steps to get someone from animal control out there to look into what is going on.

 

[mandelyn]

It's great that you're trying to help these birds, they sure need it. But you've set yourself up for the long haul.

Most respiratory type illnesses stay in the birds for life, and when they are seemingly healthy, they're still carriers. You can't ever put them with your current flock unless you get a true diagnosis of what they have from a vet. There actually isn't a chicken "cold"... everything is far more serious than that. You can't sell them or give them away, you'll be sending along the illness too.

Once those diseases land in a location, unless they cull the entire flock and start over, there will always be a bird showing symptoms. Many will die without treatment, but some will survive and remain carriers, or relapse themselves into it during stressful times.

Antibiotics will treat the symptoms while the virus runs it's course, if it's a viral type. Could be bacterial. Could be viral.

Wouldn't be a bad idea to give them electrolytes, and put them on a high protein game bird feed with oyster shell separate. Lot's of healthy greens too, and grit scattered around.

If you're going to do chicken rescue, it would be best if you could have a separate coop for them, well away from your healthy layers. Put a quarantine area near the rescue coop, in case you bring in more.

You need to be very careful with biosecurity. Washing hands between visits from one group to another, plastic bags over your shoes that you can remove. Sanitizing feeders and waterers, etc.

The one with the bad eye may need lanced, have you looked at it closely? You may need an antibiotic eye cream, and daily cleaning. If it goes on too long vision will be lost in that eye.

A turkey poult will not have a comb at all. It will have a fuzzy little snood instead, a little thing that pops up off the forehead. It will also have a much shorter beak than a chicken. Baby turkeys are really cute in the face! If you really do have a turkey, it will need a special high protein feed, 26% is best, but most are 24%. Wouldn't hurt to have the rescue hens on that same feed while they grow feathers.

Animal control may not be able to do anything. If there is food, water, and shelter, there's nothing they can do. Chickens in molt or roughed up by a rooster just look generally terrible. Not sure if they'll do anything about mites and broken legs. I've seen some pretty terrible chicken places, bald birds and severe over crowding. Nothing animal control would do.

If one of the birds passes away, it would be wise to send it for a necroscopy, that way you can know what the other birds remaining may have. You should be able to find an AG extension office that can point you in the right direction. Start with a vet school if you have one nearby.

 

[cassvillechick]

Thank you so much for your feedback. We have them separated and we are doing most of the things you suggested. We have a vet consulting and a vet tech who is a friend of ours coming every few days. We started eye cream with "Patch" the one with the bad eye and after only 4 days the swelling is down and it's starting to look a little better. I don't know if we have a turkey. I will post another picture for you of her/him. We had no intentions of rescuing chickens it just kind of happened!

Again thank you for your feedback. I didn't know that the respiratory things might not be cured. Ekk! We have some choices to make.

 

[soler]

Well, you certainly are a wonderful person for doing this!

the one with the leg issue, is it definitely broken? or could it be a slipped tendon? there is some great information here:
https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry

you may want to also put apple cider vinegar in the water at a 2% concentration for general immune boost and help
http://poultrykeeper.com/health-suppliments/apple-cider-vinegar

also, to help re-feather faster, offering some good quality cat food along with their feed can help.

I would get their poops tested too, they may have worms. I would also dust them in case they carry lice/mites/whatever.

Are they still sneezing/coughing/having nose/eye discharge/showing respiratory distress? If so a course of antibiotics is probably not a bad idea.

 

[soler]

do you have any xenodine or betadine? those are good to keep handy, you could spray that on they eye as well.it's an antiseptic that prevents fungal and topical bacterial infections. It's just a good thing to keep for emergencies.

 

[lovinchicks]

Also Vetrycin is great too if there are any red areas on the skin.